Automatic bathing apparatus.



L. A. ABRAMSON.

AUTOMATIC BATHING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION mm NOV-2,1914.

mm m w; v w

L. A. ABRAMSON.

AUTOMATIC BATHING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 2. 1914.

1 ,1 SSAQU. Patented May 16, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

LOUIS ALLEN ABRAJVISON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

AUTOMATIC BAT'I-IING- APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 16, 19116.

Application filed November 2, 1914. Serial No. 869,980.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LOUIS ALLEN ABRAM- SON, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Bathing Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My present invention relates to means whereby access on the part of the public to public baths may be automatically made conditional upon subjection of each individual to a proper preliminary cleansing bath. 8

The improvement involves the use of a form of double door whereby each individual entering the public bath is held stationary within the influence of a shower bath which may be of any desired type; and the arrangement is such that the individual is not liberated from the space aforesaid until the bath is completed.

While the invention in its broadest scope may be embodied in a variety of forms which may occur to those skilled in the art, I have shown only two modifications in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a top plan view in diagram of the revolving form, Fig. 2 is an elevation of the same, Fig. 3 is an elevation on a larger scale showing the details for operating the valve, Fig. d is a top plan view in diagram of the modification employing swinging doors, and Figs. 5 and 6 show on a larger scale the details of a preferred mode of controlling the locking of the doors automatically.

In the form shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, a person seeking access to the public bath is supposed to move from the entrance at the bottom of Fig. 1 to the entrance at the top thereof, and in order to permit this, a revolving door is operated. This door, which is preferably composed of a grating or a series of bars as indicated in Fig. 2, comprises a diametrical grating or partition 10, mounted to rotate upon a central shaft 11 and carrying at its two extremities the curved gratings 12 and 13 which are adapted to close the two entrances on opposite sides of the circular space simultaneously. By means of the pawl 14: and ratchet 15, movement of the revolving door is so controlled that revolution in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1 is alone permitted. Reverse travel through the circular space is prevented in a well known manner by the stationary bars 16. The open position of the door is indi cated in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

The organization of the device is such that the person who revolves the door by hand in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1 is enabled to follow the door toward the right in Fig. 1 until he or she stands in the semicircle on the right of the grating and is there confined by automatic locking of the door in the position shown in Fig. 1; while at the same time a shower bath is caused to discharge into the space occupied. The sprays. may occupy any convenient position as for instance the positions shown in Figs. 1 and 2 at 17, 18 and 19. The light lines diverging from these sprays indicate the direction of projection of the fluid.

Various means may be employed without departing from my invention whereby the action of the door is controlled to act automatically to spray the bath upon the person passing through. In the specific form shown, the sprays 17, 18 and 19 are fed by pipes 20 leading from the cylinder 21 to a well known form of time valve, commonly employed in toilets, etc., whereby the opening of the valve and its release is followed by a slow return and a consequent closing of the valve after a predetermined period of time.

The details of this device are too well known to require illustration and descrip tion here. It will only be necessary to state that, in the preferred form used, this device includes a rotary valve 22 controlling in its movement a successive discharge of fluid through the pipes 23, 24, and 25 whereby liquid soap and hot and cold water are discharged in proper order and duly mixed. This discharge takes place through the cylinder 21, the piping 20 and the sprays 17, 18 and 19. A rotary valve 22 is turned by an arm 26 pivotally connected by a rod 27 with the short arm of a pivoted lever 28. At the extremity of the longer arm of the lever 28 is placed an anti-frictional projection 29 under which moves the inclined bar or cam 30 attached to the exterior of each of the curved gratings 12, and 13.

A catch in the form of a bell crank lever 31 is arranged to normally drop down in front of a projection 32 on the door to lock the same when the lever 28 is lifted and the catch 31 and projection 32 are so placed that the locking does not take eflect until after the inclined bar 30 has passed by the projection 29 and liberated the arm 28. In the position shown in Fig. 3, when the door is unlocked, the catch 31 is held out of locking position by downward pressure of the arm 28. The arms 28 and 26 and the connection 27 are all well known instrumcntalities heretofore employed in connection with the automatic valve 21, 22 and the operation thereof about to be described is the same as that already well known.

IVhen the door is swung into the position shown in Fig. l and the bar or rail 30 passes under the projection 29, the lever 28 is swung through an are indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3 and finally liberated by the passage beyond it of the rail 30 just as the door is finally locked by the stop 32 coming in contact with the catch 31. This swinging upward of the lever 28 produces the first open condition of the mixing vah'e and starts the shower bath upon the occupant within the semi-circular space within the door. The arm 28 descends slowly in a well known manner, lifting the arm 26 and producing the required changes in the nature of the bath due to the proper mixing of the fluids fed through the pipes 23, 24 and 25. This continues until the arm 28 finally drops into the position shown in Fig. 3, when the valve 22 is closed and the lock 31 is open, thus permitting the occupant to complete the revolution of the door and pass on through the exit after having received the bath.

In the form shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 two swinging doors are employed, namely the entrance door 33 normally closed by a spring 34 and the exit door 35 normally closed by the spring 36. Here the sprays 37 and 38 represent the points of discharge of shower bath which is fed through the pipe 20 coming from the cylinder 21 which is in this case preferably given a horizontal position. In this modification, the valve 22 and arm 26 are operated through the rod 27 which is pivoted both to the arm 26 and to a short arm 39 fast on a hub 40, which hub is supplied with a fixed projection 41. An arm 42 is pivotally mounted upon the same shaft with the sleeve 40 and normally rests against the projection 41. As the door 33 is opened to admit the bather, the arm 42 is first swung upward in Fig. 5 against the action of the spring 43 which normally holds it against the projection 41. This movement of the arm 42 permits the door 33 to pass, but when the door 33 is closed again the arm 42 is thrown downward in Fig. 5 into the position shown by dotted line 44 and during this movement, the arm 42 acts through the projection 41 and arm 39 to open the valve 22,

thus starting the action of the shower bath as heretofore described in connection with the first modification of my invention.

In order to prevent the door 35 from being opened until after closing of the door 33 and operation of the shower bath, a variety of automatic means may be employed and among others a means depending upon the use of electricity substantially in the form shown in Figs. 4 to 6. For this purpose the door 35 is locked when the pawl 45 is pressed outward by the springs 46. So long as the door 33 is closed and the automatic valve is in the position shown in Fig. '5, this looking effect is prevented by withdrawal of the pawl 45 by means of the electromagnet 47 which is in electric connection with the gem erator 48. The opposite pole of the genera-tor 48 is connected toone of the stationary contacts 49, 50, on the jamb of the door 33 and when the door is closed a connection is preserved between the generator 48 and a stationary contact 51 near the valve, this connection being made at the door 33 :by the metal plate 52 on said door which bridges the contacts 49, 50. A spring contact 52 on the end of the arm 39 is electrically connected, by the wire 53, with that end of the coil 47 which is opposite to the end connected to the battery 48.

It Will thus be seen that as soon as the door 33 is open to admit the bather, the circuit through the magnet 47 is broken both at the terminals 49, 50 and at the terminals 51, 52. WVhen the door 33 is closed, starting the shower bath, this circuit is closed at 49,

50 but remains open at 51, 52 until the valve 22 automatically closes and the terminals 51, 52 again come in contact. This corresponds to the termination of the shower bath period and, by closing the electric circuit through the magnet 47, unlocks the door and liberates the bather.

What I claim is V 1. In a bath apparatus, the combination of means providing a place for bathing by water and having a path of entrance to and exit from said place, means adapted to be connected to a source of water supply and to provide a discharge of water at said place for bathing, movable means adapted to provide an obstruction in said path against the convenient passage by a person therethrough, and means under the control of said movable means adapted to control the flow of water through said water discharge means, said movable means being adapted to be moved into and out of such obstructing position in such path. V

2. In a bath apparatus, the combination of means forming a compartment and having a passageway for entrance to and exit therefrom, a spraying device adapted to be connected to a source of water supply and adapted to discharge into said compartment,

movable means adapted to provide an obstruction in said path against the convenient entrance to said compartment or exit therefrom by a person, said movable means being adapted to be moved into and out of such obstructing position, and means under the control of said movable means for controlling the flow of water to said spraying device.

3. In a bath apparatus, the combination of means adapted to be connected to a source of water supply for spraying, means providing a path of entrance to and exit from the place where the spraying is adapted to be done, movable means adapted to provide a removable obstruction in such path whereby a person desiring conveniently to enter such place when the obstructing means are in obstructing position must move said obstructing means out of such obstructing position, a valve connected with said spraying apparatus and adapted to control the flow of water therethrough, said valve being under the control of said obstructing means whereby said valve is opened when said ohstructing means are moved from one position to another.

4:. In apparatus for the purpose described, a chamber for accommodating a bather, spraying means comprising a valve and adapted to discharge liquid into said chamber, and a door for closing said chamber and adapted when operated to operate said valve, substantially as described.

5. In apparatus for the purpose described, a spraying means, an automatic time valve connected therewith, and a door adapted when moved to initiate operation of said valve, substantially as described.

6. In apparatus for the purpose described, a chamber for accommodating a bather, a door therefor, means adapted to discharge a liquid into said chamber, a valve for said means controlled by the movement of said door, and a lock for said door controlled by movement of said valve, substantially as described.

7 In apparatus for the purpose described, a chamber for accommodating a bather, a door therefor, means adapted to discharge a liquid into said chamber, an automatic time valve for said means, adapted to be placed in its initial position for operation by said door, and a lock for said door adapted to be released by said valve on its return to normal position, substantially as described.

8 In apparatus for the purpose described, a chamber for accommodating the bather provided with an entrance and an exit passage in the walls thereof, means for closing both of said passages, means adapted to discharge a liquid into said chamber, a valve gig;

for said discharging means, and a lock for said means for closing the exit passage adapted to be controlled by movement of said valve, substantially as described.

9. In apparatus for the purpose described, a chamber for accommodating a bather provided with an entrance and an exit passage in the walls thereof, means for closing both of said passages, means adapted to discharge a liquid into said chamber, an automatic time valve for said discharging means adapted to be placed in its initial position for operation by one of said passage-closing means, and a lock for said means for closing the exit passage adapted to be released by said valve on its return to normal position, substantially as described.

10. In apparatus for the purpose described, a chamber for accommodating a bather, a door therefor, means for discharging liquid into said chamber, a valve there for having an operating lever and an in clined bar on said door adapted to tilt said lever when said door is moved to admit a bather to said chamber, substantially as de scribed.

11. In apparatus for the purpose described, a chamber having an entrance and an exit opening, a revoluble door within said chamber adapted to close said entrance and said exit simultaneously, means for discharging liquid into said chamber, and a valve for the same adapted to be operated by movement of said revolving door, substantially as described.

12. In apparatus for the purpose described, a chamber having an entrance and an exit opening, a revoluble door within said chamber adapted to close said entrance and said exit simultaneously, a lock for said revoluble door, means for discharging liquid into said chamber, and a valve for the same adapted to control said lock when operated, substantially as described.

13. In apparatus for the purpose de scribed, a chamber having an entrance and an exit opening, a revoluble door within said chamber adapted to close said entrance and said exit simultaneously, means for discharging liquid into said chamber, a valve for the same having an operating lever, a catch for securing said door adapted to be held normally open by said lever, and an inclined bar on said door adapted to tilt said lever when said door is swung into closed position, substantially as described.

I11 testimony whereof, I allix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

LOUIS ALLEN ABRAMSON.

\Vitnesses:

KATHARINE C. MEAD, GENE A. BECKWITH.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

